Spot planning evaluation system, spot planning evaluation apparatus and program

ABSTRACT

To place an efficient advertisement to a particular target. A spot planning evaluation system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire information for identifying effective areas configured with advertisement slots with particular-target content rates equal to or larger than a given threshold; and a control unit configured to perform, in order that a sum total of total audience ratings (acquired gross rating point (GRP) rates) expected to be acquired by the advertisement slots of the effective areas with respect to all advertisement slots during a given period becomes a given value, adjustment of acquired GRP rates of all the advertisement slots during the given period.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a spot planning evaluation system, aspot planning evaluation apparatus and a program.

BACKGROUND ART

In television broadcast, CMs (commercial messages) are broadcast asadvertisements. The CMs are roughly classified into time CMs and spotCMs. The time CMs are CMs broadcast in slots that are bought and soldbeing integrated with a program and may be called program commercialmessages, program CMs or sponsor CMs.

The spot CMs correspond to CMs broadcast in CM time slots determined bytelevision stations. The spot CMs are classified into station breaks(SB) broadcast between programs, participations (PT) (or participatingCMs) inserted in a program but are not attached with a sponsor display,and the like.

Existing spot CM planning (which may be called selection ofadvertisement slots, plan making, buying, quotation, spot planning andthe like) is performed based on an advertisement placement patterndetermined in advance (for example Patent Literature 1).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature [Patent Literature 1]

-   Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-124867

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

As for the existing spot CM planning (which may be called spotplanning), however, since there is a restriction to follow an existingplacement pattern, there is a problem that more effective planning for aparticular target audience cannot be provided.

Therefore, one of objects of the present disclosure is to provide a spotplanning evaluation system, a spot planning evaluation apparatus and aprogram capable of placing an efficient advertisement for a particulartarget.

Solution to Problem

A spot planning evaluation system according to one aspect of the presentdisclosure includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquireinformation for identifying effective areas configured withadvertisement slots with particular-target content rates equal to orlarger than a given threshold; and a control unit configured to perform,in order that a sum total of total audience ratings (acquired grossrating point (GRP) rates) expected to be acquired by the advertisementslots of the effective areas with respect to all advertisement slotsduring a given period becomes a given value, adjustment of acquired GRPrates of all the advertisement slots during a given period.

Advantageous Effect of Invention

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible toplace an efficient advertisement for a particular target.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of aspot planning evaluation system according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of a spot planningevaluation method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of decision of ESP zones.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of acquired GRP rates.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an ESP-zone desired rate.

FIG. 6 FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing examples of acquired GRPrates (before adjustment) of the ESP zones and outside the ESP zones,respectively.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of each acquired GRP rate afteracquired GRP rate control is applied.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of effective target audienceratings.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of effective target audienceratings in the case of omitting the acquired GRP control.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration ofan evaluation apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration ofthe evaluation apparatus and the like according to the embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

Existing spot CM planning (which may be called buying, quotation or thelike) is performed based on a household audience rating in the case ofassuming an advertisement placement pattern determined in advance. Asthe advertisement placement pattern, there are, for example, an invertedL type, an all-day type, an inverted E-shaped type, an inverted C-shapedtype, an inverted F type, a midnight type, an all-daytime type and thelike. Note that, in the present disclosure, the advertisement placementpattern may be replaced with a placement pattern, a development pattern,an advertisement pattern, a sales pattern or the like.

Generally, spot CM planning is performed in the unit of total audiencerating (gross rating point (GRP)). Cost per GRP is called cost perpoint. Generally, the cost per point differs for each placement pattern.A spot CM fee in the case of selecting a certain placement pattern maybe calculated based on GRP x cost per point.

As for the existing spot CM planning (which may be called spotplanning), however, since there is a restriction to follow an existingplacement pattern, there is a problem that more effective planningcannot be provided for a particular target.

Therefore, the present inventors got an idea of a mechanism capable ofrealizing evaluation for performing buying of advertisement slotsappropriate for a target, utilizing various data.

An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below indetail with reference to accompanying drawings. In the descriptionbelow, the same units are given the same reference numerals. Since thesame units have the same name and the same function, detaileddescription will not be repeated.

(Spot Planning Evaluation System)

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of aspot planning evaluation system according to one embodiment. A spotplanning evaluation system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a spot planningevaluation apparatus 10, a broadcast distribution apparatus 20 and anaudience rating management apparatus 30.

The spot planning evaluation apparatus 10 is an apparatus to tryexchange of advertisement slots among a plurality of advertisementcampaigns and provide information about an exchange result. Hereinafter,the spot planning evaluation apparatus 10 is also called simply theevaluation apparatus 10 below.

The evaluation apparatus 10 may be a mobile terminal (a mobilecommunication terminal) such as a mobile phone, a smartphone and atablet type terminal or may be a fixed communication terminal such as apersonal computer (PC) and a server. In other words, the evaluationapparatus 10 in the present disclosure can be replaced with acommunication device.

The evaluation apparatus 10 may communicate with a network (the Internetand the like) wiredly and/or wirelessly (via, for example, LTE (LongTerm Evolution), NR (New Radio), Wi-Fi (registered trademark) and thelike).

The broadcast distribution apparatus 20 is an apparatus to distributebroadcast to TVs (televisions). Here, the televisions (televisionreceivers) may be apparatuses having a function of receiving at leastone of terrestrial broadcast, broadcasting by BS (BroadcastingSatellite)/CS (Communications Satellite), Internet broadcasting(Internet television) and the like. For example, the televisions may bemulti-function televisions, smart TVs, IP (Internet Protocol) TVs, settop boxes or the like.

Note that broadcasting means transmission of telecommunication intendedto be directly received by the public, and may include radiobroadcasting and Internet broadcasting.

The audience rating management apparatus 30 is an apparatus to performaggregation for an actual audience rating of a program broadcast ontelevisions. The audience rating may be stored for a given time unit(for example, a second, minute or hour). The audience rating managementapparatus 30 may transmit information about the audience rating to otherapparatuses (for example, the evaluation apparatus 10) via a network.

The audience rating management apparatus 30 may be, for example, anapparatus managed by a television audience rating surveyor. The audiencerating management apparatus 30 may acquire data of viewing historiesfrom pieces of measuring equipment connected to televisions of givenhouseholds (for example, survey cooperating households) and manage thedata. Note that an audience rating may be calculated or predicted fromthe data.

In the audience rating management apparatus 30, an audience rating foreach given target (users corresponding to a given attribute) (anindividual audience rating of the target) may be recorded.

Note that, in the present disclosure, targets are assumed to correspondto gender/age categories used in the field of marketing (a C (Child)layer, a T (Teen) layer, M (Male) 1 to M3 layers, and F (Female) 1 to F3layers) but are not limited to this classification.

An example of a functional configuration and hardware configuration ofeach apparatus such as the evaluation apparatus 10 will be describedlater.

Note that the above system configuration is a mere example and thesystem configuration is not limited to the above system configuration.For example, for each kind of apparatus, only one is included in FIG. 1,but the number for each kind of equipment is not limited to one, andmore than one may exist. The spot planning evaluation system 1 may beconfigured so that a part of the apparatuses are not included or may beconfigured so that a function of one apparatus is realized by aplurality of apparatuses.

A configuration is also possible in which functions of a plurality ofapparatuses are realized by one apparatus. For example, at least two ofthe evaluation apparatus 10, the broadcast distribution apparatus 20 andthe audience rating management apparatus 30 may be implemented on oneserver.

(Spot Planning Evaluation Method)

A spot planning evaluation method according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be described below. Each spot planningevaluation method may be applied to the spot planning evaluation systemdescribed above.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a flowchart of the spotplanning evaluation method according to the embodiment.

At step S101, the evaluation apparatus 10 derives a target content rateof each advertisement slot of a certain broadcasting station (which maybe replaced with a channel) for a given period (for example, one week).Note that, in the present disclosure, an advertisement slot may bereplaced with a time slot, a zone or the like.

The target content rate may be calculated, for example, by Equation 1below.

Target content rate=individual audience rating of the target/audiencerating at the time of buying  (Equation 1)

The target content rate may correspond to a value obtained by dividingan individual audience rating of the target by an audience rating at thetime of buying. For example, if a household audience rating of a certainadvertisement slot at the time of buying is 10%, and an acquiredindividual audience rating of the target is 5%, then a target contentrate=5/10=0.5 (or 50%) may be determined. Note that, the individualaudience rating of the target may mean a rate of viewers of a certaintarget layer relative to all individuals corresponding to the targetlayer.

Note that, in the present disclosure, the audience rating at the time ofbuying may be a household audience rating or may be an individuals'overall audience rating which is an audience rating obtained bytotalizing real-time viewing and time-shift viewing during seven daysafter broad cast (which may be called “All&P+C7 (Program+Commercial 7)”or the like).

The evaluation apparatus 10 may acquire (for example, receive)information for deriving the target content rate. For example, theevaluation apparatus 10 may acquire information about an individualaudience rating of the target, information about an audience rating atthe time of buying and the like for each advertisement slot. Theevaluation apparatus 10 may acquire (receive) these pieces ofinformation from the audience rating management apparatus 30.

The information for deriving the target content rate may includeinformation about a program to which an advertisement is assigned (whichmay be called program information). The program information may include,for example, a broadcast date and time (which may include start time,end time, a day of the week, time length of the program and the like), atime rank (a CM fee rank), a genre of the program, information aboutcontent of the program, keywords about the program, a predicted audiencerating of the program, and the like.

At step S102, the evaluation apparatus 10 identifies advertisement slotswith high target content rates. The advertisement slots with high targetcontent rates may be called effective target zones, effective zones, ESPzones or the like (hereinafter called ESP zones).

For example, when the target content rate of a certain advertisementslot is higher than a given threshold (or a value within a given range),the evaluation apparatus 10 may judge that the advertisement slot is anESP zone. The given threshold may be called an ESP zone threshold or thelike.

Here, the given threshold (or range) may be determined, for example,from target content rates of all advertisement slots during a givenperiod (for example, one week, one month or the like) of a certainbroadcasting station (for example, may be determined as an average ofthe target content rates of all the advertisement slots). Further, theevaluation apparatus 10 may judge the given threshold (or range) basedon an input from outside (for example, a setting by a user).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of decision of the ESP zones. Atable (a time table) on the left side of FIG. 3 shows an example of thetarget content rate of each advertisement slot of the certainbroadcasting station derived at the above step S101. The advertisementslots are divided according to the days of the week (Monday to Sunday)and by one-hour intervals (a time slot between 5 o'clock and 6 o'clockup to a time slot between 28 o'clock and 29 o'clock) in this example,but positions of advertisement slots, a dividing way and the like arenot limited thereto.

A table on the right side of FIG. 3 shows the ESP zones identified atstep S102. In this example, the given threshold described above isassumed to be 94.2[%] corresponding to an average of target contentrates of all of shown advertisement slots, and advertisement slotshaving target content rates larger than this value are shown as the ESPzones.

Note that, though all rates and ratings such as the target content rateand the audience rating are shown in the unit of percentage, the unit isnot limited thereto.

Since the table on the right side of FIG. 3 is shown so that the ESPzones are identified, it may be called a target content rate heat map,an ESP zone heat map or the like.

In the subsequent flow, the example based on the time tables shown inFIG. 3 will be described.

Next, at step S103, the evaluation apparatus 10 acquires acquired GRPrates by zone in a given advertisement placement pattern. Here, thegiven advertisement placement pattern may correspond, for example, to anormal all-day type advertisement placement pattern or otheradvertisement placement patterns.

An acquired GRP rate by zone may mean a rate of spot CM assignment toeach advertisement slot when all the advertisement slots of the certainbroadcasting station during a given period (for example, one week) isassumed as 100%. In other words, the acquired GRP rate by zone maycorrespond to a GRP rate expected to be acquired by each advertisementslot. The acquired GRP rate by zone may be called an acquired GRP rate,an acquired total audience rating rate, merely a GRP rate, or the like.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the acquired GRP rates. Atable on the left side of FIG. 4 shows an example of assignment of GRPscorresponding to an all-day type advertisement placement pattern. Eachof numerical values in percent shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to anacquired GRP rate of the whole of a certain area. For example, in FIG.4, it is shown that a GRP of 40% relative to the whole placement budgetis acquired in a time slot between 9 o'clock and 19 o'clock on Monday toFriday.

A table on the right side of FIG. 4 shows an example in which the tableon the left side is shown in more detail (each acquired GRP rate isdivided to individual advertisement slots). Thus, an acquired GRP rateof the whole area of the table on the left side may correspond to a sumtotal of acquired GRP rates of all the advertisement slots in the area.

What is obtained by equally allocating a sum total of acquired GRP ratesof each area in the table on the left side of FIG. 4 to advertisementslots of the area corresponds to the table on the right side. Forexample, the above described 40% that corresponds to the time slotbetween 9 o'clock and 19 o'clock on Monday to Friday is equallyallocated to the number of advertisement slots (10×5=50 slots) in thearea, and a value of 40%/50=0.80% is shown in each advertisement slot inthis area in the table on the right side.

Next, at step S104, the evaluation apparatus 10 adjusts the acquired GRPrates by zone of step S103 based on an ESP-zone desired rate.

Here, the ESP-zone desired rate may correspond to a sum total ofacquired GRP rates of all advertisement slots in the ESP zones when asum total of acquired GRP rates of all the advertisement slots of thecertain broadcasting station during a given period (for example, oneweek) is assumed as 100%.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the ESP-zone desired rate. Inthis example, the ESP-zone desired rate is 80%, and 80% is shown in eachof the advertisement slots corresponding to the ESP zones. In each ofadvertisement slots that do not correspond to the ESP zones, 20%(=100%−80%) is shown.

In the adjustment of step S104 (which may be called acquired GRP ratecontrol), control is performed to satisfy the sum total of the acquiredGRP rates of the ESP zones=the above ESP-zone desired rate and tosatisfy a sum total of the acquired GRP rates of zones other than theESP zones=100%—the above ESP-zone desired rate.

For example, the evaluation apparatus 10 may perform the acquired GRPrate control based on Equations 2 and 3 below.

$\begin{matrix}\left\lbrack {{Formula}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right\rbrack \\{\mspace{670mu} \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \right)} \\{{{Acquired}\mspace{14mu} {GRP}\mspace{14mu} {rate}\mspace{14mu} {ESP}\mspace{14mu} {zone}\mspace{14mu} \left( {{after}\mspace{14mu} {adjustment}} \right)} =} \\{\mspace{200mu} \frac{\begin{matrix}{{acquired}\mspace{14mu} {GRP}\mspace{14mu} {rate}\mspace{14mu} {of}\mspace{14mu} {ESP}\mspace{14mu} {zone}\mspace{14mu} \left( {{before}\mspace{14mu} {adjustment}} \right)*} \\{{ESP}\mspace{14mu} {zone}\mspace{14mu} {desired}\mspace{14mu} {rate}}\end{matrix}}{\begin{matrix}{{sum}\mspace{14mu} {total}\mspace{14mu} {of}\mspace{14mu} {acquired}\mspace{14mu} {GRP}\mspace{14mu} {rates}\mspace{14mu} {of}} \\{{ESP}\mspace{14mu} {zones}\mspace{14mu} \left( {{before}\mspace{14mu} {adjustment}} \right)}\end{matrix}}} \\{\mspace{670mu} \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 3} \right)} \\{{{Acquired}\mspace{14mu} {GRP}\mspace{14mu} {rate}\mspace{14mu} {outside}\mspace{14mu} {ESP}\mspace{14mu} {zones}\mspace{11mu} \left( {{after}\mspace{14mu} {adjustment}} \right)} =} \\{\mspace{135mu} \frac{\begin{matrix}{{acquired}\mspace{14mu} {GRP}\mspace{14mu} {rate}\mspace{14mu} {outside}\mspace{14mu} {ESP}\mspace{14mu} {zones}\mspace{14mu} \left( {{before}\mspace{14mu} {adjustment}} \right)*} \\\left( {100 - {{ESP}\mspace{14mu} {zone}\mspace{14mu} {desired}\mspace{14mu} {rate}}} \right)\end{matrix}}{\begin{matrix}{{sum}\mspace{14mu} {total}\mspace{14mu} {of}\mspace{14mu} {acquired}\mspace{14mu} {GRP}\mspace{14mu} {rates}\mspace{14mu} {outside}} \\{{ESP}\mspace{14mu} {zones}\mspace{14mu} \left( {{before}\mspace{14mu} {adjustment}} \right)}\end{matrix}}}\end{matrix}$

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing examples of acquired GRP rates(before adjustment) of the ESP zones and outside the ESP zones,respectively. FIG. 6A corresponds to a table in which, among theacquired GRP rates of the advertisement slots shown in the table on theright side of FIG. 4, the values corresponding to the ESP zones are leftas they are, and the values corresponding to the outside the ESP zonesare set to 0. On the other hand, FIG. 6B corresponds to a table inwhich, among the acquired GRP rates of the advertisement slots shown inthe table on the right side of FIG. 4, the values corresponding to theoutside of the ESP zones are left as they are, and the valuescorresponding to the ESP zones are set to 0.

The sum total of the acquired GRP rates (before adjustment) of the ESPzones corresponds to a sum total of the acquired GRP rates of theadvertisement slots in FIG. 6A. In the case of FIG. 6A, the sum total ofthe acquired GRP rates (before adjustment) of the ESP zones isdetermined as about 40.5%.

The sum total of the acquired GRP rates (before adjustment) outside theESP zones corresponds to a sum total of the acquired GRP rates of theadvertisement slots in FIG. 6B. In the case of FIG. 6B, the sum total ofthe acquired GRP rates (before adjustment) of the outside of the ESPzones is determined as about 59.5%.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of each acquired GRP rate afterthe acquired GRP rate control is applied. FIG. 7 may be derived based onFIGS. 5 and 6.

For example, an acquired GRP rate (after adjustment) of the time slotbetween 5 o'clock and 6 o'clock on Monday corresponding to an ESP zoneis determined as 0.50*80/40.5≈0.99[%] based on Equation 2.

Further, an acquired GRP rate (after adjustment) of a time slot between13 o'clock and 14 o'clock on Monday corresponding to the outside of theESP zones is determined as 0.80*20/59.5≈0.27[%] based on Equation 3.

At step S105, the evaluation apparatus 10 calculates effective targetaudience ratings of the advertisement slots based on the target contentrates of the advertisement slots derived at step S101 and the acquiredGRP rates by zone adjusted at step S104, and calculates a sum total ofthe effective target audience ratings (which may be called an effectivetarget audience rating total, a total effective target audience rating,or the like). As the effective target audience rating total, forexample, a value at the time of a given GRP value (for example 100 GRP)at which placement is assumed may be determined.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the effective target audienceratings. FIG. 8 may be derived based on FIGS. 3 and 7. A value of eachadvertisement slot in FIG. 8 corresponds to a value obtained bymultiplying a value in the same slot in FIG. 3 and a value in the sameslot in FIG. 7.

The effective target audience rating total is obtained by a sum total ofthe values of FIG. 8, and is about 105.1 in the case of FIG. 8.

At step S106, the evaluation apparatus 10 calculates an effective targetaudience rating cost. Here, the effective target audience rating costmay be determined by Equation 4 below:

Effective target audience rating cost=audience rating cost at the timeof buying/effective target audience rating total  (Equation 4)

The audience rating cost at the time of buying in Equation 4 maycorrespond, for example, to a cost required to acquire an audiencerating at the time of buying corresponding to a given unit (for example,1%).

The effective target audience rating total is obtained by the sum totalof the values of FIG. 8, and is about 105.1 in the case of FIG. 8. Theeffective target audience rating cost may mean a cost corresponding to atarget audience rating of 1% (in other words, per target total audiencerating (target rating point (TRP))).

Note that a normal target audience rating cost may be determined byEquation 5 below:

Target audience rating cost=audience rating cost at the time ofbuying/target content rate  (Equation 5)

According to Equation 5, it is meant that, when it is assumed that acost to acquire a household audience rating of 1% is assumed to be10,000 yen, and that the target content rate is 50%, the target audiencerating cost is 20,000 yen.

The effective target audience rating cost in the case of not performing(omitting) the acquired GRP rate control of step S104 corresponds to acost in spot transaction depending only on an existing placementpattern.

Therefore, by comparing the effective target audience rating cost in thecase of performing the acquired GRP rate control of step S104 and theeffective target audience rating cost in the case of not performing(omitting) the acquired GRP rate control of step S104, it is possible tomeasure a cost improvement effect based on the acquired GRP control.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of effective target audienceratings in the case of omitting the acquired GRP control. FIG. 9 may bederived based on FIG. 3 and the table of the right side of FIG. 4. Avalue of each advertisement slot in FIG. 9 corresponds to a valueobtained by multiplying a value in the same slot in FIG. 3 and a valuein the same slot of the table on the right side of FIG. 4.

The effective target audience rating total is obtained by a sum total ofthe values of FIG. 9, and is about 90.5 in the case of FIG. 9.

If it is assumed that audience rating cost at the time of buying is thesame between the case of performing the acquired GRP rate control andthe case of not performing the acquired GRP rate control, the effectivetarget audience rating cost in the case of FIG. 8 is 90.5/105.1≈86.2% incomparison with the effective target audience rating cost in the case ofFIG. 9.

In other words, in this case, cost reduction (efficiency) of about 13.8%can be realized by performing the acquired GRP rate control.

By performing steps S103 to S106 for each placement pattern andcomparing effective target audience rating totals and effective targetaudience rating costs of placement patterns, the evaluation apparatus 10may decide desirable advertisement placement (for example, budgetallocation, advertisement placement patterns, ESP-zone desired rates andthe like for broadcasting stations). The evaluation apparatus 10 maytransmit control information for broadcasting a spot CM to the broadcastdistribution apparatus 20 based on the decided advertisement placement.

According to the embodiment described above, it is possible topreferably decide highly efficient allocation of a spot CM for target.

<Others>

In the spot planning shown in the embodiment described above, an exampleof application to a television CM is shown. However, the spot planningis not limited thereto. The above embodiment of the present disclosuremay be applied, for example, to a radio CM, a CM by Internetdistribution and the like. One skilled in the art can replace andunderstand the description of the above embodiment as necessary. Forexample, in the case of being applied to a radio CM, an audience ratingin the present disclosure may be replaced with a listening rate.

Here, “GRP” in the present disclosure may be replaced with any otherindex about a total audience rating.

Note that the present disclosure covers content in which “audiencerating” is replaced with a particular index (or a degree of improvement,offset or the like of a particular index). The particular index may bean index for judging advertisement effects, an intermediate index forimproving KPI (key performance indicators) of an advertiser, or thelike, and, for example, a recognition rate, reach, ROAS (Return OnAdvertising Spend), ROI (Return on Investment) and the like may beincluded. A part of mentions of “audience rating” may be replaced withany of the above particular indexes.

For example, the target content rate in Equation 1 may be replaced withEquation 6 or Equation 7 below.

Target content rate=particular index per target individual/particularindex for the whole at the time of buying  (Equation 6)

Target content rate=particular index per target individual/audiencerating at the time of buying  (Equation 7)

Further, the present disclosure covers content in which “target” and “ofthe target” are deleted. When replacing with the particular index, whichhas been described above, is considered, for example, the content rateof the present disclosure may be replaced with Equation 8 below. Bydoing so, it can be expected to improve advertisement effects of anadvertiser based on ESP zones irrespective of a target.

Content rate=particular index/particular index at the time ofbuying  (Equation 8)

If replacement of terms stated here is applied, other terms may beappropriately replaced. For example, the acquired GRP rate may be calledan acquired index rate or the like; the effective target audience ratingmay be called an effective target index, an effective index or the like;and the audience rating cost may be called an index cost or the like.

(Equipment Configuration)

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration ofan evaluation apparatus according to the embodiment. As shown in theexample, the evaluation apparatus 10 has a control unit 110, a storageunit 120, a communication unit 130, an input unit 140 and an output unit150. Note that functional blocks which are characteristic parts in thepresent embodiment are mainly shown in this example, and the evaluationapparatus 10 may have other functional blocks required for otherprocesses. Further, a configuration is also possible in which a part ofthe functional blocks are not included.

The control unit 110 performs control of the evaluation apparatus 10.The control unit 110 can be configured with a controller, a controlcircuit or a control device that is described based on commonrecognition in the technical field of the present disclosure.

The storage unit 120 stores (holds) information used in the evaluationapparatus 10. The storage unit 120 can be configured with a memory, astorage, a storage device or the like that is described based on commonrecognition in the technical field of the present disclosure.

The communication unit 130 performs communication with othercommunication devices (equipment, servers and the like) via a network.The communication unit 13 may output received various information to thecontrol unit 110.

The communication unit 130 can be configured with atransmitter/receiver, a transmission/reception circuit or atransmission/reception device that is described based on commonrecognition in the technical field of the present disclosure. Note thatthe communication unit 130 may be configured with a transmission unitand a reception unit.

The input unit 140 accepts an input by an operation from the user.Further, the input unit 140 may be connected to given equipment, astorage medium and the like to accept input of data. The input unit 140may output an input result, for example, to the control unit 110.

The input unit 140 can be configured with an input device such as akeyboard, a mouse, buttons and the like, an input/output terminal and aninput/output circuit or the like described based on common recognitionin the technical field of the present disclosure. Further, the inputunit 140 may be configured, being integrated with a display unit (forexample, a touch panel).

The output unit 150 performs output of data, content and the like in aformat perceptible to the user. For example, the output unit 150 may beconfigured, including the display unit to display an image, a soundoutput unit to output sound, and the like.

The display unit can be configured with a display device such as adisplay and a monitor that is described based on common recognition inthe technical field of the present disclosure. The sound output unit canbe configured with an output device such as a speaker that is describedbased on common recognition in the technical field of the presentdisclosure.

The output unit 150 can be configured, including an arithmetic unit, anarithmetic circuit, an arithmetic device, a player, an image/video/soundprocessing circuit, an image/video/sound processing device, an amplifierand the like described based on common recognition in the technicalfield of the present disclosure.

Note that the communication unit 130 or the input unit 140 may be calledan acquisition unit. The acquisition unit may acquire information foridentifying an effective area (an ESP zone) configured with anadvertisement slot where the content rate of a particular target (thetarget content rate) is equal to or above a given threshold (the ESPzone threshold) (for example, information for deriving the targetcontent rate).

The control unit 110 may perform a process based on the steps shown inFIG. 2. For example, the control unit 110 may perform, in order that asum total of total audience ratings (acquired gross rating point (GRP)rates) expected to be acquired by the advertisement slots of theeffective areas with respect to all advertisement slots during a givenperiod becomes a given value (the ESP-zone desired rate), adjustment ofacquired GRP rates of all the advertisement slots during the givenperiod.

The control unit 110 may perform the adjustment by multiplying theacquired GRP rates of the advertisement slots of the effective areas bythe given value, and dividing the products by a sum total of theacquired GRP rates of all the advertisement slots of the effective areas(corresponding to Equation 2 described above).

The control unit 110 may perform the adjustment by multiplying theacquired GRP rates of the advertisement slots that do not correspond tothe effective areas by a value obtained by subtracting the given valuefrom 100, and dividing the products by a sum total of the acquired GRPrates of all the advertisement slots that do not correspond to theeffective areas (corresponding to Equation 3 described above). Note thatthis “100” may correspond to the case of showing the ESP-zone desiredrate in the unit of percent.

The control unit 110 may calculate the effective target audience ratingof each advertisement slot based on the content rate of eachadvertisement slot and the acquired GRP rate of each advertisement slotfor which the adjustment has been performed.

The control unit 110 may determine a degree of cost improvement by theadjustment based on the effective target audience rating of eachadvertisement slot. For example, the control unit 110 may judge(evaluate) the degree of cost improvement based on the acquired GRPcontrol, by comparing an effective target audience rating cost in thecase of performing the acquired GRP rate control and an effective targetaudience rating cost in the case of not performing the acquired GRP ratecontrol.

Each of the broadcast distribution apparatus 20, the audience ratingmanagement apparatus 30 and the like may have a configuration similar toFIG. 10. One skilled in the art can appropriately replace and understandthe description related to the evaluation apparatus 10 in thedescription of FIG. 10.

Some units will be illustratively described below. Note that a referencenumeral of a device corresponding to each functional block of FIG. 10 isshown by applying a first-digit numeral of a reference numeralindicating the device (for example, in the case of the broadcastdistribution apparatus 20, “2” at the first digit of “20”) to thefirst-digit numeral in FIG. 8.

A communication unit 230 of the broadcast distribution apparatus 20 mayreceive control information for broadcasting a spot CM based onadvertisement placement decided based on an effective target audiencerating cost and the like, from the evaluation apparatus 10. A controlunit 210 of the broadcast distribution apparatus 20 may decide a spot CMto be broadcast in a given time slot based on the above controlinformation. The communication unit 230 of the broadcast distributionapparatus 20 may distribute (transmit) the spot CM.

A control unit 310 of the audience rating management apparatus 30 mayderive information about an audience rating based on a televisionviewing log not shown. A communication unit 330 of the audience ratingmanagement apparatus 30 may transmit information for identifyingeffective areas (ESP zones) to the evaluation apparatus 10.

(Hardware Configuration)

The block diagram used to describe the above embodiment shows blocksaccording to functions. Each of these functional blocks (components) isrealized by an arbitrary combination of hardware and/or software.Further, means for realizing each functional block is not especiallylimited. Each functional block may be realized by one device that isphysically combined or may be realized by two or more devices that arephysically separated but are wiredly or wirelessly connected.

For example, an apparatus (the evaluation apparatus 10 or the like) inthe embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer toperform the process of the spot planning evaluation method of thepresent disclosure. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of ahardware configuration of the evaluation apparatus and the likeaccording to the embodiment. Physically, each of the evaluationapparatus 10, the broadcast distribution apparatus 20 and the likedescribed above may be configured as a computer apparatus including aprocessor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007 and thelike.

Note that, in the present disclosure, the terms “apparatus”, “circuit”,“device”, “unit”, “server” and the like can be replaced with oneanother. The hardware configuration of the evaluation apparatus 10, thebroadcast distribution apparatus 20 and the like may be made so as toinclude, for each of the devices shown in FIG. 11, one or more, or maybe configured without including a part of the devices.

For example, though only one processor 1001 is shown, there may be aplurality of processors. Further, a process may be executed by oneprocessor or may be executed by two or more processors at the same time,sequentially, or using other methods. Note that the processor 1001 maybe implemented with one or more chips.

Each function of the evaluation apparatus 10, the broadcast distributionapparatus 20 and the like is realized by causing given software (aprogram) to be read on hardware such as the processor 1001 and thememory 1002, and thereby the processor 1001 performs an arithmeticoperation to control communication by the communication device 1004,reading and/or writing of data on the memory 1002 and the storage 1003,and the like.

For example, the processor 1001 causes an operating system to operateand controls the whole computer. The processor 1001 may be configuredwith a CPU (central processing unit) that includes interfaces withperipheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic operation device,registers and the like. Note that each unit such as the control unit 110described above may be realized by the processor 1001.

Further, the processor 1001 reads a program (a program code), a softwaremodule, data or the like from at least one of the storage 1003 and thecommunication device 1004 onto the memory 1002 and executes variouskinds of processes according thereto. As the program, a program to causea computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in theabove embodiment is used. For example, the control unit 110 may berealized by a control program that is stored in the memory 1002 andoperates on the processor 1001, and the other functional blocks may besimilarly realized.

The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may beconfigured, for example, with at least one of a ROM (read-only memory),an EPROM (erasable programmable ROM), an EEPROM (electrically EPROM), aRAM (random access memory) and other appropriate storage media. Thememory 1002 may be called a register, a cache, a main memory (a mainstorage device) or the like. The memory 1002 can store a program (aprogram code), a software module or the like that can be executed toimplement the method according to the embodiment.

The storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium and may beconfigured, for example, with at least one of a flexible disk, a floppy(registered trademark) disk, a magneto-optical disk (for example, acompact disc (a CD-ROM (compact disc ROM) and the like), a digitalversatile disc and a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a removabledisk, a hard disk drive, a smart card, a flash memory device (forexample, a card, a stick and a key drive), a magnetic stripe, adatabase, a server and other appropriate storage media. The storage 1003may be called an auxiliary storage device. Note that the storage unit120 described above may be realized by the memory 1002 and/or thestorage 1003.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (a transmission/receptiondevice) for performing communication between computers via at least oneof a wired network and a wireless network and is also referred to, forexample, as a network device, a network controller, a network card, acommunication module or the like. The communication device 1004 mayinclude a SIM card. Note that the communication unit 130 described abovemay be realized by the communication device 1004.

The input device 1005 is an input device (for example, a keyboard, amouse and the like) to accept an input from outside. The output device1006 is an output device (for example, a display, a speaker and thelike) to perform output to the outside. Note that the input device 1005and the output device 1006 may be integrally configured (for example, atouch panel). Note that the input unit 140 and the output unit 150described above may be realized by the input device 1005 and the outputdevice 1006, respectively.

Further, the devices such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 areconnected via the bus 1008 for communicating information. The bus 1007may be configured with a single bus or may be configured with differentbuses among the devices.

Further, the evaluation apparatus 10 and the like may be configured,including hardware such as a microprocessor, a DSP (digital signalprocessor), an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), a PLD(programmable logic device) and an FPGA (field programmable gate array),and a part or all of each functional block may be realized by thehardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be at least one of thesepieces of hardware.

(Modification)

Note that the terms described in the present disclosure and/or termsrequired to understand the present disclosure may be replaced with termshaving the same or similar meanings.

The information, parameters and the like described in the presentdisclosure may be expressed using absolute values, expressed usingrelative values from given values, or expressed with correspondingdifferent information. Further, names used for parameters and the likein the present disclosure are not limiting in any respect.

The information, signals and the like described in the presentdisclosure may be those expressed using any of various differenttechniques. For example, data, an instruction, a command, information, asignal, a bit, a symbol, a chip and the like that can be mentionedthrough the whole description above may be indicated by a voltage, acurrent, an electromagnetic wave, a magnetic field or a magneticparticle, a light field or a photon, or an arbitrary combinationthereof.

Information, signals and the like may be inputted/outputted via aplurality of network nodes. The inputted/outputted information, signalsand the like may be stored in a particular place (for example, a memory)or managed using tables. For the inputted/outputted information, signalsand the like, overwriting, update or addition can be performed. Theoutputted information, signals and the like may be deleted. The inputtedinformation, signals and the like may be transmitted to otherapparatuses.

Further, notification of given information (for example, a notificationof “being X”) is not limited to an explicit notification but may besuggestively performed (for example, by not performing notification ofthe given information or by notifying different information).

Software should be broadly interpreted to mean an instruction, aninstruction set, a code, a code segment, a program code, a program, asubprogram, a software module, an application, a software application, asoftware package, a routine, a subroutine, an object, an executablefile, an execution thread, a procedure, a function and the like nomatter whether it is called software, firmware, middleware, a microcodeor a hardware description language or it is called by other names.

Further, software, instructions, information and the like may betransmitted/received via at least one of a transmission medium and asignal waveform. For example, when software is transmitted from awebsite, a server or other remote sources using at least one of wiredtechnology (a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, a twisted pair, aDSL (digital subscriber line) and the like) and wireless technology(infrared rays, microwaves and the like), at least one of the wiredtechnology and the wireless technology is included in the definition ofa transmission medium.

The terms “system” and “network” used in the present disclosure can beinterchangeably used.

The each of the aspects/embodiment described in the present disclosuremay be used alone, or the aspects/embodiment may be used in combinationor used by being switched at the time of implementation. Further, orderof the process procedures, sequences, flowcharts and the like of theaspects/embodiment described in the present disclosure may be changedunless there is a contradiction. For example, the method described inthe present disclosure presents various step elements in illustrativeorder and is not limited to the presented particular order.

The expression “based on” used in the present disclosure does not mean“based on only” unless otherwise stated. In other words, the expression“based on” means both of “based on only” and “at least based on”.

Reference to elements using names accompanied by “first”, “second” andthe like which are used in the present disclosure does not generallylimit the quantities or order of the elements. These names can be usedin the present disclosure as a convenience method for distinguish two ormore elements. Therefore, reference to a first and second elements doesnot mean that only the two elements can be adopted or that the firstelement must be prior to the second element in some form.

In the present disclosure, when “include”, “including” and forms changedtherefrom are used, these words are intended to be inclusive similarlyto the term “comprising”. Furthermore, the word “or” used in the presentdisclosure is intended not to be an exclusive OR.

In the present disclosure, for example, when an article is added bytranslation like “a”, “an” and “the” in English, the present disclosuremay include a case where nouns following these articles are in pluralforms.

An invention according to the present disclosure has been described indetail above. It is apparent to one skilled in the art that theinvention according to the present disclosure is not limited to theembodiment described in the present disclosure. The invention accordingto the present disclosure can be implemented as modified and changedaspects without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventiondetermined based on description of Claims. Therefore, the description ofthe present disclosure is intended to give an illustrative explanationand does not give any restrictive meaning to the invention according tothe present disclosure.

The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No.2019-114836 filed on Jun. 20, 2019, the content of which is herebyincorporated in its entirety.

1. A spot planning evaluation system comprising: an acquisition unitconfigured to acquire information for identifying effective areasconfigured with advertisement slots with particular-target content ratesequal to or larger than a given threshold; and a control unit configuredto perform, in order that a sum total of total audience ratings(acquired gross rating point (GRP) rates) expected to be acquired by theadvertisement slots of the effective areas with respect to alladvertisement slots during a given period becomes a given value,adjustment of acquired GRP rates of all the advertisement slots duringthe given period.
 2. The spot planning evaluation system according toclaim 1, wherein the control unit performs the adjustment by multiplyingthe acquired GRP rates of the advertisement slots of the effective areasby the given value, and dividing the products by a sum total of theacquired GRP rates of all the advertisement slots of the effectiveareas.
 3. The spot planning evaluation system according to claim 1,wherein the control unit performs the adjustment by multiplying acquiredGRP rates of advertisement slots that do not correspond to the effectiveareas by a value obtained by subtracting the given value from 100, anddividing the products by a sum total of the acquired GRP rates of allthe advertisement slots that do not correspond to the effective areas.4. The spot planning evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein thecontrol unit calculates an effective target audience rating of eachadvertisement slot based on the content rate of each advertisement slotand the acquired GRP rate of each advertisement slot for which theadjustment has been performed.
 5. The spot planning evaluation systemaccording to claim 4, wherein the control unit determines a degree ofcost improvement by the adjustment based on the effective targetaudience rating of each advertisement slot.
 6. A spot planningevaluation apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit configured toacquire information for identifying effective areas configured withadvertisement slots with particular-target content rates equal to orlarger than a given threshold; and a control unit configured to perform,in order that a sum total of total audience ratings (acquired grossrating point (GRP) rates) expected to be acquired by the advertisementslots of the effective areas with respect to all advertisement slotsduring a given period becomes a given value, adjustment of acquired GRPrates of all the advertisement slots during the given period.
 7. Acomputer-readable medium containing a program for causing a computer toexecute: a procedure for acquiring information for identifying effectiveareas configured with advertisement slots with particular-target contentrates equal to or larger than a given threshold; and a procedure forperforming, in order that a sum total of total audience ratings(acquired gross rating point (GRP) rates) expected to be acquired by theadvertisement slots of the effective areas with respect to alladvertisement slots during a given period becomes a given value,adjustment of acquired gross GRP rates of all advertisement slots duringthe given period.